Rejection, Ejection
by AnkoStone
Summary: Ladonia is a smol bab and must be protected


11\. "Who cares about others?"

The small micronation sniffed as he sat on the stairs, trying to fight tears that threatened to fall as he heard Peter and Kailin playing together. She had come over to visit Peter, and it seemed like every time she did, Erland would end up in trouble. The ginger quickly wiped his eyes though when Tino came by, finally ready to talk to Erland so he no longer had to stew in time out.

"Are you ready to talk about what happened?" The Finnish man asked, but Erland only looked away, pouting slightly.

"No." He said, making Tino sigh. Of course he could always get Berwald involved, but he wouldn't force Erland to talk, but would rather try and get him to do it on his own, which didn't seem to work, since this happened every time Peter had a friend over.

"Erland, we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong." Tino said, taking a seat on the stairs as well. Erland crossed his arms and pouted more, determined to stay silent.

It wasn't like they could fix anything anyways.

The two sat their a moment, both of them listening to the other children's laughter and the sound of the occasional power tool from Berwald's workshop. After a while, Tino looked back at Erland.

"Every time someone comes over, you are very rude to them, Erland." He said, pointing out the obvious. The young boy's cheeks flushed, but he remained stubbornly silent, but Tino went on.

"I hate seeing you in punishment." Tino said. "And so does Berwald, but you don't tell us what's wrong." He said. Erland kept silent, though he could feel tears burn his eyes again, and a lump form in his throat. Tino noticed this. He didn't want Erland upset, but he needed to know what was going on.

"Are you jealous of Peter?"

Erland's head whipped up, and his blue eyes were suddenly filled with anger. "Me? Jealous? Don't be stupid!" He said, which caused the parent in Tino to appear.

"Don't talk to me like that Erland, I am just trying to help you-"

"By pointing out that I'm not as good as Peter?" The young boy yelled, standing on the stair. Tino stared up at him a moment, all anger dissipating at Erland's words. That hadn't been what he was trying to do at all, and yet that was exactly how the boy took it.

But that wasn't what sent Erland off. It was the footsteps at the top of the stairs. Kailin and Peter were standing at the top of it, no longer playing.

"Erland?" Peter said, clearly confused as to why he was yelling. Erland looked up at them, and fear and shame crept around him. The young boy suddenly fled out of their site, running off to hide himself, away from the others, away from their judging eyes.

"Erland!" Tino called, suddenly standing up. The two kids at the top of the stairs glanced at each other worriedly, about to go after him, but Tino stopped them.

"Tino!" Peter whined, but Tino shook his head.

"No, let me handle this, you two go play." The elder nation gave the two a soft smile, and though neither of them liked it, both of the micronations climbed back up the stairs and back to Peter's room.

Erland had wanted to go to his room, but it was upstairs, and he hadn't wanted to run into the other two kids. So he ran until he found another comfort place, his laptop, having been left on the kitchen table to charge.

The internet nation opened the laptop, and was sucked inside. He felt a bit safer and calmed down a bit. But with calming down, he suddenly began crying fully, his tears falling to the ground. He was angry with himself for crying, but the lump in his throat began to hurt too much to try and stop.

Backin the real world, Tino had went into the kitchen. He had known exactly where Erland had went, the young one being fairly predictable. He walked to the laptop and sat down in front of it, slightly tapping on the screen.

"Erland?" He called, making the boy look up. He frowned and looked away.

"Go away!" He called, just wanting to be alone, but Tino shook his head.

"Erland, I wasn't trying to say Peter was in any way better than you." Tino defended, but Erland was quick to get on his case.

"Oh sure you didn't." He said. "Don't lie to me, Everyone knows." He sniffed, before looking back at Tino.

"He's friendlier. He's nicer. He's smarter. All the other kids like him and none of them like me." He said, before suddenly his tears came faster, and the boy began to cry harder.

"He's got a brother and parents and a dog and friends and everyone likes him. But what do I got? A computer and Berwald."

"Erland you got me-" Tino tried to say, but he cut him off.

"Only because Berwald knows me!" He cried,but he was suddenly ejected from the computer, landing on the table. The laptop had overheated from Erland's emotional outburst, but the sudden ejection only made the boy angrier.

"Now even my laptop hates me!" He cried, before curling into his knees. Tino's heart ached from the boy. He hadn't known he had felt like this, and suddenly he felt awful. He quickly took Erland into his arms. He didn't object, really needing the hug as Tino tried to sooth him.

"No Erland, you shouldn't think like this." He whispered quietly. "You're a good boy. Berwald loves you. I love you." He whispered.

"You guys love me because you have to." He cried, but Tino only gently rubbed his back. Berwald had finally came upstairs. Though he hadn't heard what was happening over his tools, as soon as he saw Erland and Tino in distress, he walked over.

"What's wrong?" He asked through his thick accent, and both of the two looked up at him, both of them crying. Berwald's face suddenly softened, and he was quick to realize the mood.

He wrapped his arms around the both of them, which was a bit awkward consider the position of them all, but he managed anyways. The young boy's crying had grown quiet a bit, and soon he was merely hiccuping. Berwald had pulled away, and was running his fingers through his ginger hair. Tino had stopped crying as well, and was left with a tear stained face for the boy who didn't think anyone loved him.

After a moment, there was a knock on the door. Everyone turned towards it, since it was a bit unexpected. The Swedish man was the first to start towards the door, and Tino lifted Erland in his arms, who didn't object, and allowed himself to be held.

As Tino coddled Erland, Berwald returned with a gleam in his eye that confused Tino, but made him a bit hopeful, and that was overlooked by the boy who didn't know better.

"I th'nk Erl'nd should answer it." Berwald said, making the micronation look up in confusion. He sniffed and rubbed his now puffy eyes.

'Why?" He asked suspiciously, but Berwald merely shrugged.

Tino smiled and set Erland down. "Go on." He encouraged. Erland frowned, but walked towards the front door, unsure what the adults were planning, but he was majorly concerned.

He opened the wide door, and was suddenly met with a stoic face. It was Edwin, the Austrian micronation, and to the right of him stood his older brother Roderich.

The Austrian adult cleared his throat when he saw Erland. "Edwin had asked to come over here." Roderich said, looking down at Edwin, who nodded in confirmation. Erland frowned, leaning on the door slightly.

"Peter's upstairs, I'll go get him." He mumbled, but a quiet voice stopped him.

"I came to play with you." Edwin said, which made the internet nation blink in shock.

"What?" He asked, confusion filling him.

Edwin nodded again and held up a small suitcase in his hands that was covered in paint. "You said you were an artist." He said. Roderich smiled slightly as Tino appeared in the back, the smile on his own face going ear to ear.

Erland too smiled slightly, before jabbing his thumb in his chest, and it boasted out. "I AM an artist! The best micronation artist!" He exclaimed, which made the silver haired boy's eyes light up with challenge.

"Yeah?" He asked as he walked into the house. Erland nodded and lead him in.

"Yeah!"


End file.
